On December 28, Rasmussen released a general election poll for president. The results: Hillary Clinton 37%, Donald Trump 36%, someone else 22%, undecided 5%. For more detail, see here.
4
The Green Mountain Party was formed earlier this year to influence politics and government in Vermont. It is fiscally conservative. Vermont has two methods for newly-qualifying parties to get on the ballot. If they show they are organized in any ten towns by the end of an odd year, they are ballot-qualified and can nominate by convention with no need for petitions.
Or, they can place nominees on the November ballot by petition. The nominees will have the party name on the ballot next to their name. Those petitions are due in August of the election year. The Green Mountain Party will not meet the deadline for having committees in ten towns, but it is free to use the petition method later this year if it wishes.
Rocky De La Fuente is a San Diego businessman who is aggressively seeking a spot on Democratic presidential primary ballots. He has already qualified in nine states, from among the fifteen states in which the deadline has passed. He describes himself as a conservative Democrat.
Federal Election Commission records show that he has donated $10,000 over the past sixteen years to various Republican candidates for federal office, but only $1,000 to Democrats. Among Republicans he contributed to are President George W. Bush in 2004, and California Republican members of Congress Duncan Hunter, Brian Bilbray, and Darrell Issa.
On December 15, the Kentucky Republican Party informed the State Board of Elections not to hold a Republican presidential primary. Instead the party will hold a caucus. Although the party had made that decision several months ago, it waited until December 15 to make the decision binding.
Here is the Republican Party’s web page concerning its March 5 caucus. Paper ballots will be used. Candidates have until January 7, 2016, to file. So far eight candidates have paid the $15,000 filing fee.
Early in December 2015, the Virginia Republican Party decided that voters who ask for a Republican presidential primary ballot in March 1, 2016, must sign below a statement that says, “My signature below indicates I am a Republican.” See this story. Virginia does not have registration by party.
Some years ago the party considered asking voters in its primaries to sign below a statement that the voter intends to vote Republican in the upcoming general election, but that idea was dropped.